Corvette Assembly Plant to Shut Down Over Parts Shortage Next Week

By
Keith Cornett
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16
12279

Corvette Assembly Plant to Shut Down Over Parts Shortage Next Week


Here we go again.

The Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky will be closed the week of May 24th due to another temporary parts shortage. The plant is expected to reopen on Tuesday, June 1st as Monday is Memorial Day.

Here is the official statement provided:

“The Bowling Green Production Plant will not run production on the week of May 24th due to a temporary parts supply issue. Our supply chain, manufacturing and engineering teams are working closely with our supply base to mitigate any further impact on production, and we expect the plant to resume normal operations on Tuesday, June 1st.”

The Assembly Plant was previously closed the week of May 10th and the two-week closure affects the building of approximately 1,800 Corvettes for the 2021 model year. We learned that the last closure was related to transmissions which are sourced from TREMEC. That was also rumored to be the case with the shutdowns from February.

The end date for the 2021 model year has been somewhat fluid with dates ranging from August 13-September 3rd, and this new delay could put a damper on June’s allocations to dealers.

Returning to work this week, the assembly plant has produced 537 Corvettes through Wednesday with an average of 179 produced per day. By the end of this week, they will have produced an approximate total of 14,586 Corvettes for the model year.


Source:
Chevrolet.com

Related:
Important Dates Coming Up Regarding the 2022 Corvette Model Year
Corvette Assembly Plant to Close Next Week Due to Parts Shortage
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16 COMMENTS

  2. I’m willing to bet this won’t be the last time this happens in 2021. Too many delays and stoppages. An uncharacteristic amount. GM needs to get it together already. Too many excuses and not enough results. The C8 is a huge hit! They should be building a record number of C8’S. But instead the production numbers annually are lower than the C5, C6, and the C7! That is unacceptable for a car as popular as the C8 is. 1979 is still tops at around 54,000 units produced. That was back when GM actually pushed production to meet the demands of the consumers. Even the Camaro and Firebird enjoyed massive success during the late 70’S with record production numbers, numbers that have still not been duplicated to this day. Yes, the quality control of those cars weren’t great, but they were affordable and easy to work on. Cars today possess none of those qualities unfortunately.

  5. This is no longer a case of poor plant management. People at the corporate level should be held accountable.

  6. You are correct. My brand new 1979 Stingray was not great. Fit and finish was terrible.
    Looks like 2021 orders will be pushed to 2022. I wonder if they will ever catch up?

  7. Maybe it’s time to figure out why the supply chain is affected. My guess is, they’re also waiting on parts.

  8. very likely the providers are also facing staffing problems post pandemic with the govt free money still flowing. Also raw materials have skyrocketed this year and the costs of fabrication may be causing some to consider price renegotiation of the parts being shipped currently. Re making a lot more, good grief , the slower production makes for higher quality than pumping out camaro/firebird numbers of old when doors didnt fit etc. More numbers would best be served by a second plant out west. These cars are far more complicated than the old f cars and certainly can be expected to require a more meticulous, complex assembly process. Thats my take, just an opinon.

  9. So the plant was open may 17-21 and produced approx 900 cars. Now the plant is closed so those assembled cars sit and wait for final inspection to begin on June 1. Why not open the inspection department and get the assembled cars on their way to customers?? [I forget GM does not care about corvette customers]

  10. Do the UAW Auto Workers still get paid for all this down time ? Interesting, might be a financial strategy by GM.

  11. GM is a disaster! And Mary Barra just isn’t cutting it. Upper management at GM needs to be restructured. This is completely unacceptable not too mention unprofessional.

  12. Tom, on their last closure, my car had been built and continued through inspection and was shipped during the closure week. They will likely continue as the support staff stays working.

  13. THANKS Chris, I asked the concierge and they said nothing except some shipping would take place which did not make sense. But it was the only source I have. My dealer told me back in Febuary my TPW was 3/8/21[1year after my order] but the truth is my car just got built 5/17-5/21/2021
    Glad to have this information source now. Thanks again hope you are right,I feel better now even with all the delays.

  14. You can’t compare production numbers of American cars in the ’70’s to today. Why? Because back then there was no where near the competition from foreign (mostly Japanese) autos. US-built cars ruled sales at that time, then the oil embargo and high gas prices enabled those smaller engine cars to become popular.

    As to C8 production, the demand is unprecedented and GM probably didn’t know how huge a hit this car would be. Put pandemic problems and global supply chain issues on top of that scenario and it’s not surprising they can’t keep up.

  15. No surprise they can not even supply information about last weeks production numbers as to if all TPW cars were produced
    and if they are being final inspected this week. What is the point of making the cars then letting them sit for over 1 week untouched??
    Makes me wonder whats really going on.

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